Fly Me To The Moon
by Yorae Rasante
Summary: Raised by Bayonetta after the death of his sensei, Shinji has a much happier life. But, still unable to defeat the Third Angel by himself, in an act of desperation he makes a contract with Unit-01. Now that someone has access to both the mind of the Fruit of Knowledge and the power of the Fruit of Life, Paradiso and Inferno want him for themselves... at any cost.
1. In which a contract is made

**This happens after Bayonetta2, so warning: I'll try to avoid them, but possible spoiler for the two games.**

 **Also quite certainly spoilers for Evangelion, but let's be honest, most people online already know all about it even without watching the anime.**

 **This time I'll avoid using honorifics, hope this doesn't drive anyone away.**

IIIII

Shinji was… emotionless. He knew he should feel bad, but he didn't feel anything about the fact his sensei had suffered a heart attack…

Despite the fact he was only eight years old, he had already been taught enough to know how to take care of himself, so he doubted his father would waste his time and money sending someone else to live with him.

Still, out of respect for the person that raised him for five years, he stood there the whole ceremony as the nun kept reading from her book.

Then, out of nowhere, light came from the sky.

He looked up, scared. Were these the so-called "angels" that take people to paradise? Would they punish him for not feeling bad about his dead sensei?

So worried he was, he barely noticed the nun using a tombstone as platform to jump high in the air… until she disappeared out of nowhere.

And then the graveyard became a nightmare.

Thunderous sounds came in succession, as holes appeared everywhere. Tombstones exploded here and there, and so did the ground from time to time. The soft earth was filled with footsteps without people making them and depressions where _things_ were being thrown around.

And then, after some time… it all stopped.

"Absolutely dreadful," sounded a voice in english, a language his sensei taught him due to his father's profession. It seemed unconcerned with what just happened, but disgusted with something, as if it had just stepped on a gum.

She was wearing formfitting black clothes, and on her hand were the ripped clothes of the nun that disappeared.

"I've been going through these so fast… couldn't they have let me keep at least some clothes? Such a lack of consideration."

Throwing the clothes aside, she turned to the boy, the only other person in the whole cemetery.

"So, little boy," she said in slightly accented Japanese, "when do someone come to pick you up? It isn't safe for such a young child to walk these streets alone in these times."

"I don't know, miss," he replied politely. "Sensei died, and I don't know if father will even send someone to take his place."

The woman's eyes widened behind her glasses, in a mix of confusion and anger.

"Well, until whoever he sends arrives, do you mind if I take care of you, child?"

His answer were wide eyes and quick nods. He did not mind being alone, not really, his sensei's company felt like he was left alone if he wasn't having lessons after all, but… he was scared. And this lady seemed to really care about him even if they just met, unlike his sensei.

"And what is your name, child?"

"Shinji Ikari, madam."

IIIII

Bayonetta was cursing inside her head as she followed the child to his apartment. Since when was she so soft to care about a kid she just met?

Besides little Cereza. And Loki. And in a way Luka, who she tolerated for years even if he hated her at the time for thinking she was the one to kill his father.

Oh no, she just noticed she had a soft spot for children.

Sighing, she tried to think of something else.

"So child, why were you living alone with… who was it again?"

"I don't know, really. Just sensei is all I knew. And since I was four, father abandoned me with sensei a bit after my mom's death," he said a bit bitterly.

Bayonetta wasn't sure if that was what happened, but she had no way to really know. Yet, she was going to ask Enzo soon if the name Ikari meant something.

IIIII

Five years since he met miss Cereza. That was how long it took before he got any news from his father.

And those news were just a letter. It was official-looking, but most of it was marked off, with a personal message on the side instead.

It would be nice if the message wasn't just the word "Come"…

Everyone was angry at this, even though Cereza and Jeanne tried to not show it. Luka was resisting cussing up a storm, while Enzo, who cared more about his children than about anything, didn't bother resisting.

"You are going anyway, aren't you child?" Cereza asked him.

Shinji nodded. Even if just to tell him to fuck off from his life, he had to talk with his father once more.

…Besides when visiting his mother's grave. It always felt like he was an intruder in something private when he met his father there, so they never talked then.

"We can't let you go without protection, it's already dangerous to go alone," Rodin said. "Take these."

"These" were four handguns. They were masterfully crafted by Rodin himself, much better than the usual M1911, but still mere toys compared to the weapons Cereza and Jeanne could use. But again, those were especially made to withstand the extreme levels of power a witch could use.

As much as he wanted to be like them, he knew that the paths of an Umbra Witch was exclusive to females, and they had no knowledge of how one could go to become a Lumen Sage. Thus he was without a contract, and thus without most of the mystic powers, even if he had completed most of the training and was as good as a candidate could be right before taking one.

"Thank you Rodin. I will treasure them and do my best to keep them in shape."

"You won't need to do much. These babies may not pack that much power, but they do not lack my love. They look like your normal handgun, but they actually use spiritual energy to make the bullets and they are made of the same metal used in Scarborough Fair. Only the best for my clients."

"Thank you, mister Rodin," Shinji repeated, this time taking a deep bow.

"Thank Bayonetta. She was the one who commissioned them."

Shinji just turned around enough to face her and bowed again just as deep.

"Thank you, miss Cereza."

"Don't mind it child," she replied, flicking his head so he looked up from the bow. "Just keep yourself safe."

IIIII

And thus was Shinji waiting in the station after arriving through train, listening to his music player while looking around.

He was wearing modest clothes, black slacks and a white shirt, a pretty standard if stylish pair of glasses in his face. Despite being raised by Cereza the last five years, he had a much more conservative style than Luka and his adorned pair.

Anyways, he wasn't seeing anything special, just a girl a bit away on the road. Well, it was special in that there were no other people or vehicles around besides her, but nothing to be worried about.

That is, until a heavy wind blew on his face.

Looking around, he could see a few planes flying in his direction from behind a hill. Confused, he took off his headphone.

He could hear heavy footsteps. As in, Godzilla heavy.

And lo and behold, from behind the hill came a giant being, shaped like a giant headless person. It was a dark, sickly green, with a red orb in the middle of the torso and white bone-like markings, including something like a mask right above the red orb. It also had spikes coming from it's elbows. It looked, in one word, like something alien.

Already sure of it, he took off his glasses to look at the giant, and yes, it was visible for normal humans. So those were the so-called Angels.

As he watched, the Angel was hit with many missiles,with explosions larger than its head. But right before the smoke left a plane was hit, and Shinji could see the pink energy spike retract and come out back in its elbow. The plane fell near him, and was promply stomped by the giant.

Shinji smartly thought the better part of valor was to know when to leave the battle and turned around to escape.

But before Shinji could run away, the screeching of a braking car was heard behind him, and turning around a blue car was opening the door. Inside was a woman that, according to the picture that came with his father's letter, Misato Katsugari.

"Sorry for making you wait," she said as hello. Shinji replied with a "no problem" as he jumped inside the car and closed the door just in time as Misato started driving at full speed, avoided being stepped by the giant with a maneuver and went back the way she came.

Far away from the giant she finally stopped, observing the battle with binoculars. Seeing the planes leaving the battlefield, it was clear to her what was going on.

"They are going to use an N2 Mine! Get down!"

She then jumped on top of Shinji, using her body to protect him. Just in time as the bomb's impact threw the car through the road and on it's side.

"Are you alright?" she asked, worried.

"Yes, just a bit dusty. Why did we stop so close?"

"For safety. At this distance the impact threw us around, but if we were moving it would be much worse. It would take a while before we could be safe."

Shinji nodded, understanding.

"Help me turn the car back?" she asked, and Shinji promptly helped.

"Thank you."

"It wasn't a problem, miss Katsugari."

"You can call me Misato."

"Well, then you can call me Shinji," he said with a smile. "Uhm, could I use the binoculars for a bit?"

"Here," she said as she gave him them. Shinji just turned around and looked at the Angel.

"It is damaged, but still seems to be alive."

"This is bad…"

"Not that much… I mean, it is damaged, right? Can't they send more N2 Mines at it until it dies?"

"N2 Mines are hard to make. They are atomic bombs without the radioactivity. There aren't that many we can use."

"I think this is past the Godzilla threshold, Misato-san. I think a little waste of resources is justified."

"We have a backup plan still to use. If it fails, then we can use it."

"Project Evangelion, right?"

Misato looked at him suspiciously.

"I heard about it from a friend. What _is_ it, by the way?"

"A friend? What kind of friend? That is classified information!"

"No one important," Shinji said, and shut up.

"Well, if you don't want to tell me it's ok…" she answered in a hurt tone. He was not buying it, and entered the car. The last thing in his mind was causing his friends trouble.

Misato sighed, and turned the key.

And again.

And again.

"The battery is dead."

"Let's take from a car nearby," Shinji said. "It's not like they are going to use it right now."

"I was thinking about a store."

"Whichever is faster."

IIIII

"So this is the train to Nerv," Shinji said as they entered. "Home of Project Evangelion."

"You know, if you don't want people prying in how you know about it, better stop mentioning it from time to time," Misato said, annoyed. "How much do you know, anyway?"

"Enough to put my sources in danger, not enough for my curiosity."

"Well, luckily for your curiosity, it seems like I am authorized to sate it a little," she said with a wink, handling him a "top secret" folder.

"I see. So he needs me for something."

"I guess you two don't get along."

"He abandoned me a few years ago with sensei, and didn't even send anyone to take care of me when sensei died. I meet him every year on the anniversary of my mother's death, but it is a solemn day and we don't talk then… are those buildings in the ceiling?"

"That's right. This is our secret underground base."

IIIII

"We've been through here twice," Shinji said. "Wouldn't it be better if I took the map?"

"No, don't worry! I am just finding myself. I can lead the way now!"

"…If we come here a third time, can I take the map then?"

"Don't worry, this base is big enough I doubt it will happen."

"Not filling me with confidence here, miss Misato?"

"What did I tell you about calling me miss?"

"Miss Cereza couldn't make me stop. Doubt you'll be able to."

After a while, they finally reached an elevator… just as a blond woman exited it. Shinji noticed she was wearing a swimsuit under her lab coat.

"Uh, hi Ritsuko."

"Captain Akagi, why do you insist in wasting my time? We are in a hurry!"

'Uh, guess that explained the swimsuit,' he thought, 'must have been called from the pool.'

"Is it him?"

"Yes, accordinh to the reports he is the Third Child."

"Nope, sorry I'm an only child," Shinji found himself answering.

"At least he has a sense of humor, unlike his father. A pleasure meeting you, Ikari. Ritsuko Akagi."

"Same here. Please call me Shinji. A sense of humor is the least you need with the friends I have."

As they progressed, the two women started talking about something called unity 01 being rebuilt and having unused equipment. And the chance of activation was in the dumps. Not exactly filling him with confidence…

And they finally arrived… in the face of a purple giant robot.

"This is humanity's Multi-Purpose Humanoid Machine, Evangelion."

"I see… so Evangelion is a giant robot…"

"This is unit 01. The last hope of humanity."

"A hope recently rebuilt and with untested equipment… chance of activation with nine zeros…"

"We have no choice. It is this or oblivion."

"…I like these odds."

"Good. Because you will pilot it."

Everyone turned around and looked upwards, where Gendo appeared.

"Father," Shinji said, without preamble, ignoring the fact he didn't speak to Gendo in years, "you do know that sensei died years ago right? I sort of didn't have the giant robot piloting training."

"Our other possible pilot is injured from a test accident, and the Evangelion units are very… specific about who can pilot them."

Shinji sighed.

"But Rei took seven months to synchronize with the Eva! It is impossible!" Misato said.

"All he needs to do is sit there. Even if there are few chances of him synchronizing, we have no choice."

Shinji was confused. How could a robot have problems with the pilot besides it's ability? And more importantly…

"The… Angel wasn't coming when I was called here. Why was I called?"

No one noticed the fact the name Angel wasn't used near him, apparently, since everyone looked at Gendo.

"We expected the Angel to attack sometime recently. We needed a spare. Your time was exceptionally good though."

Just then, the whole complex started trembling.

"It found us," Gendo stated matter-of-factly.

"Shinji, we need you to pilot it now."

Shinji thought for a while.

"Don't blame me if I get it destroyed."

"As long as you destroy the Angel too," she replied.

IIIII

"Don't worry," Ritsuko warned the panicking Shinji in the cockpit, "as soon as your lungs get filled with LCL it will provide oxygen directly.

Shinji took a tentative lungful before coughing.

"Warn me first next time! I feel… dizzy…"

"Stand up! Aren't you a man?" Misato tried encouraging him.

"Unfortunatelly… else I wouldn't need a giant robot to fight it."

"Uh?"

"Nothing."

A lot of colored lights appeared in front of Shinji's face, and everyone was talking gibberish. All he was able to understand was something about synchronization being at around 41 percent.

"This is low…" Shinji said.

"No, this is pretty good actually," Ritsuko replied. "Specially for your first time."

Shinji closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Of liquid. Damn was that weird to think about.

And then he felt lots of G in his body as he was sent upwards.

Next thing he knew, he was facing the giant angel.

"Are you ready, Shinji?"

"If I say no, do I get a tutorial on how to control this?"

Ignoring him, Misato ordered the Eva unlocked.

"Just concentrate on moving. Start by walking. Concentrate on walking now."

Shinji did so, making the robot take it's first step.

Then promptly fell face-first on the ground trying to take the second one.

"Ouch. That hurt…"

Next thing he saw was the Angel grabbing the robot by the face and lifting it.

By instinct, Shinji thought about pulling his legs to his chest and use them to kick himself away from the Angel's grip like he was trained.

The Evangelion suddenly pulled its legs to its chest and kicked at the Angel's face, freeing itself from its grip but falling on its back.

"I think I figured out how to control it…" Shinji said on the mic.

But before he could hear any answer he was forced to roll the Eva to the side to avoid an downwards punch attack by the pissed Angel, whose hand got stuck in the ground.

Taking advantage of it, Shinji willed the Eva to kick, making the Angel fall down and getting himself time to stand up.

The Eva. Getting the Eva time to stand up.

"It's getting hard to see the difference between my moves and the Eva's. And I'm pretty sure I felt that kick."

"It's the synchronization," answered Ritsuko's voice. "Don't fight it! The more in synch you get, the better it answers your commands."

The angel promptly stood up and charged the Eva… which simply jumped to the side at the last second, kicking its leg and making it trip and roll on the ground until it hit a building.

The Eva promptly jumped on top of the Angel and began kicking it's head, jumping away at a swipe from its claws before jumping back towards the rising angel with a hook on its face that sent the Angel back to the ground.

Then Shinji made the eva knee it in the orb in its chest.

The Angel went berserk, and threw a laser beam that threw the Eva backwards, exploding in a cross shape. Before the Eva could fall on the ground it was on top of the Eva, holding its face from both sides and spearing its temples with the bones coming out of its hands like it did to the plane earlier.

"The sides of the head are cracking!"

Desperately, Shinji mate the Eva punch once more on the Angel's core as hard as it could with both hands. That stunned the Angel, enough to let Shinji give a second and third pair of punches before it kept attacking. The Angel quickly jumped backwards, protecting the orb with its hands, and the Eva rolled to the side on a squatting position thanks to Shinji's training.

Then promptly jumped to the side, avoiding another laser beam.

"Guys, I _really_ think the weak point is the orb, as stupidly cliché as it sounds!"

"Understood. Do your best to break it, Shinji!"

And Shinji did. The Eva jumped back in front on the Angel and jumped forwards on its hands, legs retracted, and spun in the air, giving a mule kick with all the strength it could muster.

Which would have probably broken the orb, if not for a purple hexagon wall that appeared in front of the kick.

"God damnit!" Shinji said, as every attack he tried with the Eva was stopped by the barrier. Every punch, every kick, every combination he could think of, they all stopped due to the barrier.

"Shinji, listen to me. This is an AT Field. The Eva can produce one too. You need to create one to negate the Angel's."

"And how do I do it?"

But before Ritsuko could answer, the Angel noticed the lack of progress of the Eva and decided to be… creative.

Next thing Shinji felt was a force like a wall hitting him at high speed, as the Eva was thrown back by the barrier that the Angel decided to use like a battering ram.

Before Shinji could raise the Eva again, the feeling came again, this time from upwards. Noticing how much trouble the Eva was having with the AT Field, it was clearly the best weapon to use against it. So the Angel was trying to use it to crush the Eva.

And it was working.

Shinji tried his best, but could not make the Eva make even a small movement. He could feel the pressure it was going through, and was surprised it was still moving.

So Shinji decided to do something he never did ever since miss Cereza and Rodin told him stories about the Trinity of Realities.

He prayed.

"I don't care if you are from Paradiso. I don't care if you are from Inferno. I don't care if you are from here in Chaos. Please, someone, anyone, help me.  
If I die here… Then everyone else will probably die too.  
Please, help me protect them. I'd do anything. I'd pay any price.  
Someone… Anyone…

Help me! Please!"

Back in the Geofront, everyone was dismayed. It was too late. The Eva's armor was cracking. Shinji had no idea how to form an AT Field to combat the one on him, and in these circunstances there was no way for him to use it even if they told him how.

Those who believed in something, followed Shinji's example and prayed.

It was hopeless. The only hope of humanity was a miracle.

And then someone answered.

Gendo smiled. This wasn't what he had planned, but he could work with it.

The pressure he was feeling was gone so suddenly Shinji felt like he was bouncing from the ground. Taking a glance upwards, he could see two of the orange field classing. He could tell it was two from the fact the hexagonal (or was it octagonal? Well, honeycomb-shaped) waves the contact between them made had two different sources.

Whatever, he could stand up now. And he somehow felt like _he_ was the one standing up, like if the Eva's body was his own.

In the back of his mind, he heard the scientists screaming something about impossible and a hundred percent synchronization, but he had things more important to care about.

Like punching an Angel's Core in.

Kicking off from the ground, he advanced on the Angel with the left arm extended, and as expected his hand was stopped by yet another barrier. Yet he was barely slowed, as he punched through the AT Field with a bit of his own concentrated on his right hand.

He could imagine the Angel would be wide-eyed if it was a human as Shinji lifted it with his left hand, for it took a few seconds before it started struggling. More than enough for Shinji to charge energy to his right hand.

He just had to say it as he punched upwards, through the Angel's Core:

"Shoryuken!"

IIIII

Everyone at the Geofront was watching astounded as the Eva stepped back into the elevator, slouching slightly. Shinji's synchronization was a hundred percent.

Perfect synchronization. Unwavering, just… perfect. That was supposed to be impossible.

Everyone watched as the pilot moved through the catwalk in front of the Eva as it was locked once more, raised a fist and moved it to his back.

Then the Eva answered, and they fist-bumped.

That was impossible. Yet they all saw it happening.

That was it. Gendo had to have a talk with Shinji.

…As soon as he woke up, because he just passed out right there on the catwalk.

As they took him to the infirmary, no one noticed that the shadow on the wall was EVA-01's.

IIIII

Shinji woke up in the morning.

He had no time to sleep. He had to contact miss Cereza _now_.

As he looked for some sort of pay phone, he passed through a nurse carrying a girl his age that seemed to have had some sort of accident. She had light-blue hair and red eyes. It was the girl he met on the street right before the Angel attack. Who'd have guessed?

It took him half an hour until he met someone he knew so he could ask for directions. Unfortunately last time Misato seemed even more lost than he was now.

"What are you doing out of the bed?" she asked in a happy tone.

"Oh, I was just looking for a phone. I want to tell my friends that I'm alright."

"I see… Come, you need a checkup, you can call them later."

Shinji sighed, but didn't argue.

IIIII

Misato's worry was unfounded. I had just been exhaustion, apparently.

And thus they were going to the elevator to leave the Geofront when they met Gendo when the door opened.

They just stared at each other for a bit.

"We need to talk," Shinji finally said. "Alone."

"Agreed."

And thus the door closed.

Misato wisely said nothing.

IIIII

In the end, Shinji couldn't make his call. Something others considered more important had to be taken care of first.

Something in his tone about being used to living alone must have affected Misato, because she decided to take him to live with her.

Right now, they were driving to… somewhere, she was talking something about a welcome party. Shinji didn't care much about it, it wasn't like he had any friend in Tokio-3 to party with yet.

In the grocery store, people were talking about moving from the city. He couldn't blame them, but… why did they think Tokyo-3 had any more chance of being attacked than any other city? It wasn't like this was the second attack or anything like that.

Oh well. Misato took him to the top of a hill, to see the town during sunset he guessed.

"It feels… empty," Shinji said. They had seen only a few people on the way there, and looking from there it didn't seem like it had much. Was this supposed to be the new capital of Japan?

"It is time," Misato said.

And suddenly it didn't feel so empty. Because the buildings were growing from the ground.

"The buildings on the ceiling…"

"That's right. This town is a fortress to fight against the Angel attacks, Tokyo-3."

"You talk as if you had been expecting an attack for a while. Even more, you talk as if you were sure they would attack _here_ …"

"That is classified info, even I am not supposed to know that much about it. I'm not sure why they'd attack here, but we already knew of their existence."

"The Katsugari expedition?"

Misato gave him a look.

Shinji shut up and looked at the city.

"How much do you know about it?"

"Not much. It was in Antarctica. It was where the first Angel was fought or something. It caused the event known as Second Impact. More questions than answers."

"I was there. Yet you already know as much as me."

Shinji shrugged.

"One day you need to present me to your sources."

"No thanks. Don't want to get them in trouble."

"Come on, I swear I won't tell anyone!"

Shinji thought for a bit.

"There is a bar they go to sometimes, if you promise to keep quiet I could take you there someday."

"Yes! Thank you!"

IIIII

In the end, a bar was the right word to say to get her to leave it alone for now… because Misato was clearly an alcoholic judging by the contents of her fridge and the way she was gulping beer down during their "party".

On the other hand, she was a very happy drunk, it seemed.

And thus he was going to take a bath…

Was being the keyword, as the bath was occupied.

By a penguin.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know there was someone else here."

The penguin just raised its hand as if to say it was alright and left, its towel drapped on its shoulders.

IIIII

"Good morning, miss Misato."

"Good morning Shinji. Are you going somewhere?"

"Ah, yes. I was going to have a walk, maybe go to a park or something."

Misato nodded. Actually Shinji was lying though, he wanted to call miss Cereza but didn't want to do it in Misato's house and be overheard.

"Oh, I got an idea! Did you make that call to your friends yet?"

Oh, there goes that plan. "No, not really."

"Well, how about I get you a cellphone?"

"That… counds good, actually," Shinji said.

"Good! Let's go, I know a store with the best ones for cheap!"

In the end, Shinji went with the one that fit his clothing style the best, a classic black one. While she chose it, Misato was on her own phone, talking apparently with Ritsuko.

He waved the phone for her to see his choice, and she promptly gave the cashier her credit card and paid for it while still talking.

"I'm sorry Shinji, it looks like I'm needed at Nerv."

"Don't worry miss Misato, I understand."

"Oh, let me give you my number! You can call me if there is any problem!"

And so they exchanged numbers, Misato left on her car, and Shinji had the walk he had said he woud take.

And as soon as he was alone in a park, he took out the new phone and called a number almost no one else knew.

IIIII

"You just called the Gates of Hell. For when you want to make a deal with the devil."

" _Hello, Rodin? Is miss Cereza there?_ "

"She is here," Rodin said. "Bayonetta, for you!" was all he said before throwing her the phone.

Which she caught in midair.

"Long time no talk child. But if you called Rodin, guess it is not just to tell us you are fine."

" _No, miss Cereza. I… think I made a contract._ "

"Oh, you found out how to become a Lumen Sage?" she asked curious.

" _No, not with an angel… not that kind of angel at least…_ "

Those words sent a chill through Bayonetta's spine.

"That _kind_ of angel… Child, this is serious. Did you make a pact with…"

" _A cyborg artificial Angel… I had to pilot it to stop another Angel, and I was losing because it could create forcefields I couldn't counter by myself…_ "

"Save it. Explain me more when I get there. Enzo! Where did Shinji go to?" she called as she hang up the phone.

This was bad.

IIIII

Back then, when Bayonetta researched the name, Ikari did mean something.

It was the family name of the scientist Yui Ikari, and thus became the name of her husband Gendo. Yui had died nearly five years ago while working on Project Evangelion, and her husband became the callous leader of Nerv, whose official but classified (it had cost Enzo some favors to find out) purpose is to fight Angels. Who apparently were the responsible for the event known as Second Impact.

Which in turn took Bayonetta to talk to Rodin while Shinji was at school, since he assured her that is was not an event caused by either Paradiso or Inferno.

"Angel is a misnomer; they don't even look like the real thing. But since no one who actually knows is in the right circle, it stuck," said the blacksmith.

"You see, it has been a while since Armageddon. And by 'a while' I mean 'before humanity'.  
You see, between the creation of the Trinity of Realities and the birth of Humanity, there was another race here. But they were dying, so they thought, 'hey, let's try making a race that will last!', and thus the Seeds of Life were created."

"Was Aesir from this race?" Bayonetta asked, taking a sip from her drink.

"Not sure. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't, maybe he was a merge of the whole race. Doesn't matter. Those are gone now.  
What does matter are the Seeds of Life. As in, more than one."

That caught the woman's attention.

"So, do you mean these so-called Angels came from a second seed and are trying to take control of the world?"

Rodin nodded, with an eerie smile.

"The Seeds fought for which of them would give fruit, one with the Fruit of Life giving raw power and long life and the other with the Fruit of Knowledge and skill."

"And the Fruit of Knowledge won," Bayonetta nodded. "But why did the other Seed act up and cause the Second Impact then?"

"Because you humans are clever, but stupid. Not knowing what you are dealing with, your first instinct is to poke at it. And by poking at the Seed, it woke up."

Bayonetta sighed. "Just what we needed, a third race wanting to take over humanity."

"Well, at least this time the rest of humanity can do some of the work. They are native from this side of the Trinity, after all."

"You seem to know a lot about them. Been doing some research?"

"Well, something tells me these guys would not be so good to have as neighbors as humans, so I've been keeping an ear out. Won't do much else though. This is a Chaos dispute, so everyone is in agreement that unless they have something to gain they won't take sides."

"Nothing new there, then. Anything else I should know?"

"Well, there is one thing. You know the story of the Garden of Eden?"

"Humanity had consumed from the Fruit of Knowledge, so fearing what it could become God threw them away from Eden and guarded the Fruit of Life with archangels wielding swords of fire.  
You think someone will try to get the power of the Fruit of Life for themselves."

"Think? It probably already happened. You humans are a greedy bunch. Now, try is one thing, they can try as much as they want.  
The problem is if they succeed."

"What happens if they succeed?"

"Humans are considered weak by both sides, but their souls have potential. The so-called Angels are powerful, but make terrible recruits, mostly only caring for themselves."

IIIII

Shinji was calm. He had just contacted miss Cereza about his contract, so she should arrive soon to figure out with him what he can do with it.

Right now, he was taking a walk at the park while listening to music. The best thing he could do to relax, as far as he thought.

So why was he so tense? As if something was stalking him…

Instinctively, he jumped over a bench just in time before it cracked.

IIIII

"Someone who is both? Baby, you are looking into prime material there. The agreement?"

IIIII

He quickly wore his glasses, finally being able to see his opponents.

He was surrounded by angels. Real angels, from Paradiso.

But the one who had attacked him was a demon.

Despite being on opposite sides, it didn't seem like they just met there by coincidence. And the angels definitely didn't seem to have tried defending him when he was attacked.

Quickly, he put his hands inside his pockets, drawing out the two of his handguns that he nicknamed Hikari and Yami.

"Let's rock."

IIIII

"Consider it bust."


	2. Contract repercussions

**The concept of Purgatorio is full of holes, actually. Acording to Antonio's files, material objects can be affected due to being present both in and out of it, but living beings can't interact if outside it. Yet right at the prologue of Bayonetta we see Enzo in the Human Realm being carried by something that is there, and despite at first Bayonetta2 showing the opposite is not valid later it does happen.**

 **But of course, I have an in-story explanation that works out why interaction does happen in this instance, that will be presented later. Shinji understandably is in no shape to notice the inconsistency yet though.**

IIIII

Jumping to the side to avoid a charged shot from a demon that _holy crap that ripped the ground apart_ he was forced to take a better look at his situation.

Six demons, six angels. It didn't seem like they expected much opposition, judging by the numbers.

Of the demons, five were Hideous, a mix of a malnourished human and a bat with red scythe-like protrusions along the limbs and as horns in the head, and of those two were armed with scythes, two were with a pair of swords and one was with that overpowered shotgun, while a Hatred, a big and meaner version of a hideous, stood in the back as leader. On the angel side, five were Affinities, white and gold mix of humans and birds, with three-toed arms and legs and a third set of limbs for the wings, wearing tunics and a red mask, with two carrying staffs, two carrying flails and one with a trumpet, which was their equivalent of a rifle even if the bullet was slow, and in the back an Applaud, basically a tall affinity.

IIIII

"Twelve unknown patterns identified! I repeat, twelve unknown patterns identified!" Aida announced.

"What are their colors?" asked Maya, a bit worried.

"Yellow and purple!"

Maya visibly let out a breath of relief.

"Don't worry, it is just a quirk of the hardware from time to time. Every time we send the Security and Intelligence guys to check no one finds out anything."

"Security and Intelligence?"

"It is jokingly known as Section Two."

"Ah. The Men in Black."

Aoba snorted from his station.

"Don't know how you can praise this tech no much when it got glitches like these all the time, Maya."

Unseen by either of them, Unit 01 stirred despite being supposedly deactivated.

IIIII

Shinji quickly jumped to the side to avoid another attack by a hideous with a scythe.

The good thing about fighting a bunch of hideous is that they have absolutely no teamwork, frequently getting on each other's way. The _bad_ thing about fighting a bunch of hideous is that they are a bunch of _hideous_ : fast, strong, durable and umpredictable.

Normally Shinji would be dead already. The only reason he wasn't were two reasons:

First reason, the affinities were also fighting the hideous. No, they weren't protecting him, that was made clear because he also had to avoid attacks from them. But they were organized and more resistant, if weaker and slower, and were giving just as much as hey got. On the side the Applaud fought the Hatred, it wasn't as fast, but its weapon, a bow of arrows of light that could also be used as a pair of whips, made up for the difference.

The second, he had been trained in as much of the arts of the Umbra Witches as was possible, being a male and not having a contract with a demon. Thus, as much as he had barely any time to think, he had enough instincts to avoid being hit, even if he had to use Hikari and Yami to shield himself from time to time. 'Thank you, Rodin.'

Yet that was all he was doing, defending himself. It was frustrating, and Shinji was sure it wouldn't last. Even if he let them duke it out until the last one, there was still the last one.

He had only two real options if he wanted to survive. He could run away and hope he escaped, or he could fight back.

Except that running away wasn't likely. The Lemegeton's Guidebook made it clear that the only way to escape a hideous was by overpowering it. Even if it also said that few could fight them well enough, he _had_ to take the chance.

Seeing a red path appear on the ground, he jumped to the side, letting the hideous in front of him be hit with the other's shotgun. Not giving himself time to see how much damage that did, Shinji charged at the shotgun-wielder, whipping it in the face with his left hand gun, Yami. This did no real damage, but stunned the hideous enough for Shinji to shoot it in the eye with Hikari. This stunned the demon, making it stagger back. And drew the attention of everyone else around.

Taking advantage of it, he did a jab on the demon's neck, shooting it right after and jumping to the side to let a scythe aimed at him take off the demon's arm instead of a piece of his back.

Instead of taking advantage of it though, he was forced to roll further to avoid a flail to the back from an affinity. As the angel tried raising the flail for a second attack Shinji kicked it in the knee, making it stumble and allowing a sword-wielding hideous to hit it in the back, breaking the white armor it wore and letting its gruesome red and purple muscles visible..

No time to check others! He kept rolling, avoiding an attack from the now one-armed demon that had used the shotgun like a club. Instinctively, he shot the demon in the wrist, making it let go of the weapon and back off a bit. Shinji wasted no time on jumping on top of it and trying to shot the demon with it.

The weapon was slow to charge. The demon jumped on top of him, trying to strangle him with its remaining hand, but he resisted the natural urge to let go of the weapon and used its tip to try to push it away, hoping to buy enough time until…

The gun fired, hitting the demon on the side of its chest. It exploded, covering the field with red ichor, and the demon collapsed, soon dissolving in red mist and disappearing, leaving its gun and some crystalized energy behind. Shinji felt the scratches in his throat of where its claws held him, and briefly wondered how powerful a gun that used spiritual energy had to be to have the recoil of a physical gun like this one did.

No time! He rolled to avoid a stomp and a dual stab by a sword-wielding demon that was promptly hit in the head and killed by an angelic flail. The angel's reward for the save was a scythe-wielder jumping on its back and biting its throat out. Shinji replied with a shot to the head that killed it instantly, but the shotgun had only one shot remaining of demonic energy if Shinji was right.

The demons were wary now that they were in the inferior numbers, and the angels were focused on them, so Shinji decided to leave the shotgun for a better opportunity and let it drop to the ground, collecting Yami and Hikari back from the ground. Just in time, for the last scythe-wielding demon decided he was the weakest opponent. He quickly shot it, once in the face to stagger it and once in the knee to knock it down. Not expecting human guns to pack that much of a punch, it was enough to push the demon back. Shinji wasted no time and kept firing, not allowing the demon to advance and distracting it enough for the staff-wielding angel to break its neck.

That left only one more sword-wielding hideous and the hatred, which seemed to be losing to the applaud now that only one of them had long-range support.

Surrounded and alone, the hideous went berserk, attacking everyone in sight indiscriminately. The two staff-wielding angels tried blocking it and distracting it enough for the remaining flail-wielder to finish it, but the demon was faster, grabbing the angel before it could attack and sending it flying over it together with its weapon.

Said weapon flew right beside Shinji's head, leaving a big crater on the ground. Sweating, Shinji looked back to the demon just in time to see it impale an angel on the head while the circle on top of the staff of the other started spinning like a buzzsaw, bisecting the demon when it was swung.

Looking behind him, he saw the hatred being hit with a trumpet shot, leaving it open to the whips of the applaud being used in their bow form and shooting it through the head.

IIIII

"Purple signatures are gone!" announced Aida.

"Told you," replied Maya, happily.

"But the yellow ones are still there… well, most of them."

"They will go away too after a bit. Don't worry about it."

IIIII

And with that, the last of the demons was gone. Shinji let go a sigh of relief. He may have had a lot of energy, physical and spiritual, thanks to his training, but that many opponents aiming to kill him, while using weapons that use up his spiritual energy…

However, Shinji still was not safe, apparently, for now he was surrounded by the remaining angels, who while beat up, most of them with their armor almost completely broken becoming a gruesome red mass (with some green and purple) of exposed muscles and pus, still seemed spry enough to beat _him_ up if he tried to escape.

The applaud, seemingly worse for wear among them but holding its whips as tightly as the others held their own weapons, stood in front of him.

" _Unlike the demons, it is our preference if you came with us alive,_ " the angel spoke in Enochian.

"Not enough to ask for me to go willingly?" Shinji countered, angry.

" _With your association with the once wielder of the Left Eye, we imagined you would be… undisposed to hear our words. Besides…_ "

Shinji could feel a staff digging on his back.

" _Your will was never in our mind on this matter._ "

"Tsk. As arrogant as she said."

" _You do not seem to be much better._ "

"Well, you just said you wanted me alive."

" _No, we said it was our preference,_ " replied the affinity behind him.

" _Besides…_ " continued the Applaud ominously, " _you'd be surprised what you can live through…_ "

Shinji heard a trumpet sound, and quickly threw himself down, letting the ball of energy fly over him.

" _That is unfortunate. That was supposed to knock you out painlessly. Seems like we will have to… rough you up if you are still unwilling._ "

"You guys are not very angelic."

" _It is but a matter of perception._ "

Shinji looked around. Three affinities remaining, one for each weapon, plus the applaud. In the ground, the demonic shotgun, almost out of energy, one shot tops, a pair of demonic swords and an angelic flail.

"Guess I have no choice."

That comment made the angels relax… big mistake. Shinji took advantage of it to jump to the side, right where the shotgun was. As soon as he caught it he rolled to the side, finger in the trigger, avoiding a staff attack and hitting the biggest target: the applaud.

Normally that would not be enough and just make it angry, but after the fight with the hatred it became weak enough, the shotgun strike exploding it in golden energy that solidified in halos. The shotgun itself disappeared in purple energy, but that didn't form anything, most of it already spent with the shots.

Of course, losing their leader made the other angels angry instead.

They screamed, their throat bulging like a croaking frog, and Shinji could see them covered in red energy.

Not wasting time, Shinji stood up and grabbed the demonic swords. Just in time for the enraged angels became faster and stronger, as the staff strike he blocked could attest.

Evading a flail strike, he ran as fast as he could in the direction of the trumpet angel, evading a shot. Luckily for him, as much as it was faster to fire it was a slower shot than the demonic shotgun. One sword strike threw out the angel's aim, letting him free to cut the angel in half with the sword…

That was weird, too easy. But he had no time to think about it, probably a mix of the angel's previous wounds and the demonic sword's supernatural sharpness.

He turned around, swords flying instinctively to block the staff aimed for his back. He was now on a safer territory. Just two opponents, still plenty unfair but he was used to it being trained by misses Cereza and Jeanne. Of course, he _always_ lost to them easily, but at least he had some experience with these numbers.

Jumping to the side to avoid the swinging flail, he kept attacking the angel with the staff.  
Uselessly. All his attacks were blocked.

The angel, non-entertained, swung its staff, hitting Shinji in the face and knocking him to the ground, his glasses flying away.

And thus Shinji found out that he could see them now without them.

The other angel approached the fallen boy, flail spinning over its head, and sent it down. Shinji waved his arm uselessly, instinctivelly trying to knock the flail out of the way to his chest.

IIIII

"Another pattern!" said Aida, this time once more excited. "And you won't believe it!"

Maya quickly went to check what it was.

"It can't be!" she exclaimed, and looked at the Eva cages to make sure its occupant was still there.

For that was the signature of Eva-01.

IIIII

Keyword, instinctively.

Shinji felt a strong pressure in his arm, but much less than he expected. Then a couple of orange hexagons coming from the impact point at an angle.

The angle was enough to throw the attack to the side, hitting the ground beside his head but leaving him alive.

No time to think it through, Shinji grabbed the chain of the flail and _pulled_ , bringing the surprised angel close enough to hit it with a punch, his hand covered in a weird orange energy.

Its head caved, and it exploded in energy. And halos.

Shinji quickly created another energy shield just in time to block a staff attack from the last angel.

And another.

His third one was created before the strike was made, which taught him an important lesson: do not create these weird shields before the strike is made. They only lasted for a second, as his arm learned as the strike passed the already dissipated shield and gave it what Shinji was sure was at least a hairline fracture.

The angel then made its staff start spinning as a buzzsaw once more, clearly thinking it was not worthy to capture him alive anymore…

And dropped the staff in surprise as a fist passed through its head.

IIIII

Gendo Ikari was not an emotive man. In fact, many would call him emotionless.

The fact is, after his wife's death he _cast away_ most of his emotions. Became extremely objective-driven to be able to focus himself in something other than the loss and guilt.

The Third Child, the person he once called son, had asked for a private conversation. So he came to have such a conversation, knowing Captain Katsugari would be out. He did not have any emotional investment, not anymore, but he knew avoiding such a conversation would have detrimental results on the Third Child's professionalism.

He saw the Third going to a nearby park, and followed from a distance, making sure they were alone. It wasn't so hard, Tokyo-3 was getting less and less populated after the Angel attack.

Then the Third Child started jumping around, and… things started breaking for no visible reason?

He saw the Third Child put on his glasses and start acting like in a brawl. He had to admit, he was well-trained. But that was all, trained. It was clear that whatever he was fighting had the experience he lacked. The small patches of damage here and there made clear that whatever he was fighting was also fighting something else though, so the training and survival instincts were being enough for now.

He briefly wondered if he should interfere. Losing the Third Child would be a huge blow to the Scenario, but the opponents being invisible meant that his interference could become a liability instead.

Soon though, it seemed his help would have been unneeded. Whatever invisible force the Third Child had been fighting against had been defeated, and he was communicating with his allies…

Or so it seemed. He was only hearing one side of the conversation, but what he _was_ hearing was worrying. He really needed to have an amicable or at least neutral rapport with the Third.

The struggle restarted, and it seemed that these opponents were more experienced, or maybe it was just that they now had only one opponent instead of whatever else they were fighting before. Soon the Third was on the ground, his glasses at Gendo's feet, and the commander of Nerv had no choice but to try to interfere—

Did Shinji create an AT Field by himself just now?

Stunned, Gendo grabbed Shinji's glasses and took a look through the lenses… and was finally able to see what the Third was fighting.

No more a liability, he approached slowly, for the Third seemed to not be on mortal danger anymore but still at risk of being damaged.

As seen as the opponent was distracted doing something with its weapon, Gendo used the military training he had to toss a punch. A textbook perfect one, would probably knock any person down. Not fighting a person, he prepared to avoid a retaliatory attack, but nothing could have prepared him for his punch going through the being as if it was just a fog.

Third was smart and got out of the way, but Gendo was in a conundrum. How to fight against something that he could not touch but that probably could touch him, judging by the way it was waving its weapon?

His question was answered by the Third, who shot the being in the leg with one of those toy guns he carried that according to Security and Intelligence held no bullets. Apparently he had to fire someone.

Then the Third wielded a black and golden flail like the one one of the beings had used before and smashed the side of his opponent, knocking it uncounscious.

Wasting no time, the Third pointed his gun to the creature's head.

"Stop Third," he said in an authoritarian tone, "I wish this creature to be analyzed."

"No offense intended father, but this creature is stronger than a human, and as you noticed it can't be touched by normal beings but can touch them. My weapons were specially created to fight against them but I have no idea how I was able to hit them myself."

"My car is reinforced, and you can move it enough to lock it there even if you don't know why. Come, and bring it. Alive." And thus Gendo left for his car.

Shinji was annoyed, but obeyed. But not before collecting the orbs and halos.

IIIII

On the way to the Geofront, Gendo decided it was his chance to get some answers.

"I believe this is isolated enough for us to have our conversation. Now, what is that? I do not recall Ferino ever mentioned those creatures."

"You know Enzo?" Shinji looked at his father, surprised.

"Of course, I had him keep an eye on you after your sensei died. You are important to me Third."

"Yes, because I can pilot the Eva," Shinji grumbled.

"No, not only because of that," Gendo disagreed, but refused to say any more.

"If that is true, why did you only call for me now? Why did you abandon me?"

"I believe I made it clear that I called you because I had a need of you," Gendo answered. "And I do not consider ridding someone who hates me of my presence abandoning them."

"I did not hate you _then_ ," Shinji argued.

"I distinctly recall you saying that you hated me because I killed your mother. Which I'd like to reiterate that I did not."

Shinji gaped.

"Are you telling me that the reason you sent me away was because I blamed you for mom's death when I was a confused four years old that just lost her?"

"You did not sound confused."

"Four. Years. Old. That just lost his mom."

"I never said I was good at child psychology. Or at parenting."

Shinji sighed, frustrated.

"Can we at least try to get along now, then?"

Gendo frowned.

"I do not believe so. As I said, I am not good at parenting like Ferino. We could try at least to be professional to each other. In fact, the only person I socialize with outside professionally nowadays is doctor Akagi, and only for sexual relationships without any actual romance on my part."

"There is something called "too much information", father. But I understand."

Silence filled the car once more.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about? Then, tell me about this creature and how you were able to create AT Fields on your own."

"Well, I contacted someone to come visit me here earlier that could probably explain it better than me."

"I will ask these questions for them later then. For now I want _your_ report."

Shinji took a deep breath.

"A long time ago, there was a big struggle. I mean, _really_ big. So big it split the universe in three… frequencies, I guess we could call them. They are known as Paradiso, or heaven, the world of Light, Inferno or hell, the world of Darkness, and our realm, the world of Chaos.  
That thing in the trunk is an angel. An actual angel, not like the giant ones we fight. Actual angels are from Paradiso, those are actually a race that once competed with us for which would evolve and control the planet. I have no idea how we took over though, or why they are back besides them causing Second Impact somehow."

"I have. It is confidential. Continue your report."

"Oh, ok. Well, angels are from Paradiso and demons, you probably missed them since you couldn't see them, are from Inferno. And between the worlds there is Purgatorio. It is like a bridge between the worlds, living beings from this side can see beings in it with special equipment like my glasses or by using mirrors but can't interact, but unfortunately the other two aren't limited like that. But physical objects can interact both ways, which is why a gun or sword works. Mine are special in that they are fed with my spiritual energy instead of actual bullets, me working as the power source."

He then looked at his hand. "Or so it is told. But… I hit them while there, somehow. I didn't even notice at the time, but…"

"I see. Do you think your… contact will know more?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it. Either she knows something, or she has someone to ask. I do not know how much about her I can tell you though."

Gendo nodded.

"You said objects are able to interact with them? Would that apply to diagnostic tools?"

"Clothes aren't, so I'm not sure about objects _held_. But computer-controlled ones should have no problems…"

"That should be enough," Gendo finished the conversation, drawing his own cellphone, not noticing Shinji's eyes closing.

IIIII

"Remarkable," said Ritsuko.

"So, this is the source of the yellow patterns?" asked Maya, as they analyzed some results of the scans made.

"Yes, it is only visible when using a special filter. My belief is that the same applies to the purple patterns."

"Speaking of 'belief'… do you… believe Shinji's story?"

"Don't you?" Ritsuko asked back, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well, it does sound a little… unscientific… to me."

"I've seen many things current science cannot explain while working on Project Evangelion, Ibuki. This is just one.  
I'd like to remind you that most scientific laws are actually classified as theory. It does not mean they are invalid, but it does mean they are unproven, incomplete. Mostly because it is impossible to _prove_ , just to prove _otherwise_ , in which case the theory should be revised.  
This is just proof otherwise of a few theories. It does not mean that we should throw away what we know, but that we have to adapt to the new."

"I see. So it is not that it is unscientific, but that science still had no way to check it."

"Exactly," said a voice behind them, making Maya spin scared to face Commander Gendo.

"Report on your analysis of the glasses."

"The glasses, sir?" Maya asked, still nervous.

"The Third Child was attacked by beings only visible with the glasses. His and the First's protection takes priority."

Ritsuko nodded, and gave him the glasses in question.

"They are apparently normal glasses, but possess an energy field that serves as a filter, allowing us to see the beings in… 'Purgatorio'." Despite her previous words, you could feel her contempt about using such a religious term.

"An energy field?"

"It is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike an AT Field."

Gendo just raised an eyebrow.

"An AT Field has a biological signature. Most living beings have an AT Field actually, when we detect a pattern, we are basically detecting the stronger ones. This has a signature similar to an AT Field, but it has no biological component, in fact no known source for the energy.  
I was able to replicate it using technology, but our version _does_ need energy to work," she said, giving him special spectacles that covered the ears. "Since I'd need to add a battery anyway, I added a small radio."

"Acceptable," Gendo said. Coming from him, it was a compliment. "Also take a look at these, Third acquired them from the enemies he defeated during this one's capture," he finished, holding out a halo and a demon orb.

Ritsuko promptly put them in a beaker each and used something not unlike a Geiger counter on them.

"I already expected something like this… These appear to be… solidified AT Fields."

"Patterns?"

"Yellow for the golden halo, purple for the crystal."

"Apparently it is called an 'orb'. This is all for now, I'll add to your budged so Security and Intelligence can get some of the equipment. Send one to Captain Katsugari, if she is to take care of the Third then she better be briefed." Gendo then left the room, thoughtful.

The information he got was very clear on the Angels to be thought. Yet here were not only extra angels, but an army of them, aimed at his—the Third Child.

He would have to make changes at the last minute to the Scenario if he expected it to work, for he was currently working with _extremely_ limited information. But one thing he knew: those two other races would be a problem.

IIIII

Shinji slowly opened his eyes…

"Oh, not this ceiling again…"

With a sigh, Shinji stood up from the infirmary's bed… just to fall back right away due to the pain in his back.

"Oh right… I got a flail to the back… kinda surprised I lasted long enough to talk with my father."

Absentmindedly he noticed his arm was just tied with bandages, good. That meant that it had been just dislocated, not broken. He got one of the big lollipops on the bedside tables, a mega green herb one. He slowly began to feel better as the effects began.

"Come on, wail it on me. How bad was I?"

"You did pretty well, considering how new you are at this," came the answer. "That _was_ your first battle outside training, you know."

Miss Cereza still wore the same clothes from the last time they met. A skintight black suit with diamond openings in the back of the legs, a big one on her back, and long-sleeved white gloves. It also had some silver details in the front.

It seemed to be mostly leather, but Shinji knew it was made from her hair, that despite looking short was actually kept like that by magic.

"I mean, counting from the halos and orbs you fought seven angels and demons each?"

"Six actually. One was an applaud and other a hatred. And they mostly fought each other."

"Still, you survived being surrounded by twelve enemies mostly by yourself. Good job for a first battle."

"Second, actually. First I fought an Angel on the being I contracted with."

"Oh right, I heard about it. Well, you were still at a disadvantage both times, and one previous battle where it is the giant robot that moves does not count that much. It was still a good fight."

"Thank you, miss Cereza. Coming from you, it means a lot. How long have you been there?"

"Just arrived. Jeanne brought me on her motorcycle," she answered, resting herself against the wall.

"I told my father you were coming, he used my glasses during the fight and saw an angel and wanted answers, hope you don't mind."

"Not really, I need answers myself," replied Bayonetta. "Although I already got an idea of some of those. What about you? Any idea what you got from your contract yet and what you have to pay back?"

"Some," Shinji replied frowning. "I seem to be stronger and more resistant, and seems like I can use a shield of something called AT Field for half a second a time." He punctuated by creating one and hitting it on the side of the bed, creating the hexagons he associated with AT Fields. "Oh, and I can see and touch them without the glasses or being in Purgatorio.  
No payment asked for yet though."

"I see…" Bayonetta said, and started walking a bit around the room. "I'll have to talk with Rodin, but I have an idea of what is going on… and what your price is."

"You do?" Shinji repeated, sitting up.

"There are some people able to see them without special glasses or a contract; I used to be one as a kid. But to touch them outside Purgatorio would require an out of body experience… which is basically leaving your body behing and your soul travelling through Purgatorio by itself."

"But… I had my body with me."

"Yes, you did. But you were not in Purgatorio. Which means one of two things: either your body or your soul is halfway in there from now on. Either way…"

"Chances are that, if I die here, I stay there. Forever."

IIIII

Ritsuko Akagi looked distrustfully at the lollipop in her hand. Yes, she just told First Lieutenant Ibuki about science adapting to new discoveries, but nothing in all her experiences could explain how a _lollipop_ could have helped the Third Child heal so quickly from his injuries like they claimed.

Of course, the woman claimed to be a witch. Able to walk on walls under the moonlight, slow down time for herself, make clothing out of her hair, and summon beings with said hair, or even just part of them as she showed when just a pair of wings that did allow her to fly. Oh, and was apparently over five hundreds years old.

And of course, according to her most of those things came from a contract with a demon, so normal science would be unable to explain them.  
But she worked in Project Evangelion. Really, normal science? Pah! Normal science can't explain the AT Fields, and normal probability would have them dead a hundred times over already.

But she was still a scientist, and thus she wanted, needed to know how such things worked.

"It is an alchemic compound made from herbs from Purgatorio," Cereza said. "It stimulates the vital energy, accelerating the body's natural healing."

"In other words, it makes you heal faster, but doesn't heal by itself," explained Jeanne, a white-haired woman in a red bikers jumpsuit and another witch. "If you lose an arm or something else you can't heal, it won't help."

"Don't worry, she has no big damages on her body. We just wish her to be able to pilot as soon as possible."

Ayanami just closed her mouth, confused, after Ritsuko put the lollipop inside it.

"Yeah yeah, it'd take a load out of the child's back if someone else was fighting those big thugs too," Cereza waved her hand dismissively. "He'll need it now."

"Yes, we would appreciate an explanation of why the Third Child was attacked by these… angels from Paradiso," Gendo said emotionlessly, Misato putting a hand on Shinji's shoulder for emotional support. He smilled back at her in thanks, but truthfully he was feeling much better already with misses Cereza and Jeanne there.

"Well, what do you already know?" Jeanne asked. Gendo replied by repeating the information Shinji gave him.

"That's mostly it, really," said Cereza. "Besides that, Paradiso is full of entitled arses, Inferno has many powerhungry arses, and they couldn't be arsed to meddle into this war because they didn't care who won… until the child somehow made a contract with his giant cyborg artificial Angel… thing."

"Evangelion, miss Cereza."

"Yeah, that."

"Now they want the power of such a combination of the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life for themselves, the demons by eating his soul and the angels by converting him in one of them, by force if needed," finished Jeanne.

"And what does this contract gives either of them?" Gendo asked… apprehensive?

"Who knows?" replied Cereza. "It is the first contract of this kind. Usually the human gets powers from their sponsor in exchange of some payment, like me and Jeanne having to kill angels, and we are fated to the sponsor's realm after death."

"Inferno is not a happy place," interjected Jeanne.

"In exchange we get powers from them, and in the case of the Umbra Witches near unlimited lifespan if we keep doing our payments. Oh, and we can summon our sponsors. This benefits both, I believe,  
But the child's isn't a conventional contract."

"Don't ask _me_ , ask him. Child, are you sure there is nothing you have to do? Even if you don't know why?"

"I'm sure miss Cereza, all I have was what we talked about earlier."

"Weird… so you are stronger, harder, maybe faster, can interact with Purgatorio and can use that AT Field thing… and the only idea we have of what could be your side of the contract is—"

"Wait, did you just said he can use an AT Field?" Ritsuko interrupted, eyes wide.

"Well… sort of. I can make a shield for half a second that works just like the one of the Angel and once used that energy to power a punch… no idea how though."

Cereza turned to Jeanne.

"Do you think it was the same as a Wicked Weave or a Torture Attack?"

"A Wicked Weave," Jeanne answered. "For a Torture Attack he would feel like bursting with energy first, no?"

"Maybe, but he _was_ in the middle of a serious fight and never knew how those powers felt."

"Excuse me," interrupted Ritsuko, "What are Wicked Weaves and Torture Attacks?"

Cereza sighed in annoyance. Ritsuko wasn't sure she liked her much.

"Wicked Weaves are attacks that use a bit of our sponsor's energy to either strengthen the power or speed of an attack or summon part of the sponsor to attack together with us. Torture Attacks use the energy the witch charges with adrenaline to make a super strong attack, normally by summoning an attacking device, but that drains that charged energy," Cereza explained.

"Think of it as, Wicked Weave a stronger attack powered by magic, Torture Attack a much stronger magic attack charged through the battles," Jeanne shortened.

"But that's not important right now!" interrupted Misato. "The Eva isn't a demon, _or_ an angel. We had no idea this kind of angel even existed before! Why were they attacking Shinji?"

"Because the Eva is a cyborg artificial Angel," replied Jeanne.

"You said this before. How do you know that?" Ritsuko asked, surprising Misato that didn't know that much about the Evangelion.

"The child mentioned it when he called me," replied Cereza.

"And how did _he_ know?" she asked, turning her eyes to the pilot.

"Oh, she told me. She can talk to me in my mind, but even she has no idea what the contract does. She refuses to tell me much though, not even her name…" he finished with a frown.

"Back to your question," continued Jeanne, "The two sides are neutral on the war between the two races, but by making a contract with an Angel, even an artificial one, Shinji here got the mind of a human with the power of an Angel… when he figures out how to use it. So both sides want to… 'recruit' him now."

"Which we won't let," said Cereza with a seriousness that contrasted heavily with her carefree attitude until now.

"I see," said Gendo, pensative. "Captain Katsugari, take these two women and the Third Child to the cafeteria. It is around lunch time."

"Oh, do not worry yourself. We know the way, passed through it on the way here," Jeanne told them. Then the two entered Purgatorio and left the room.

"Well, I better take you then Shinji!" Misato said happily, dragging the boy by the arm.

"Third, I need you in my lab after your lunch to make some tests about your recovery," Ritsuko announced to the duo, getting a reply from Shinji just as the door closed.

"They are not aware that Eva-01 was made from Lilith and not Adam," Gendo announced as soon as they were alone.

Ritsuko nodded. "And with the way he was attacked, doubt the attackers know either. What will we do now?"

"Nothing. This changes nothing," Gendo said emotionlessly as he went on his way to the door.

"It doesn't?" she asked, stopping the man. "They are more connected than ever now. His synchronization when inside the Eva is of exactly a hundred percent. Who knows how this will affect your plans?"

Ritsuko smirked as Gendo resumed walking.

IIIII

Gendo was angry. Heaven and hell themselves were on his way now.

Not that that would stop him. But Eva-01 and the Third Child were irreplaceable for his plans… specially Eva-01, he had plans to turn Third obsolete soon.

Keyword, had.

Damn it all. This was all the Third's fault!

Yet, he could not alienate the Third, or even substitute him in his plans anymore. For if something happened to him, what would happen to Eva-01?

What would happen to his Yui?

IIIII

"We should train them," Jeanne said after they were finally got far enough of the Nerv employees. "Not just Shinji, that Rei girl too."

"Why? Why leave it at their hands at all? Why not take care of it ourselves?" Bayonetta asked with a pout.

"Because," Jeanne rolled her eyes, "it involves neither the Light or the Darkness. You told me yourself that the future in humanity's hands now, this is humanity's struggle. According to Rodin the two sides are at a stalemate, and there is no way to keep them in check anymore. If we act, Paradiso will react. If Paradiso reacts so does Inferno. We may end up with a second Armageddon."

"But they are already involved. The child—"

"Is the loophole for both realms. He has the powers of both sides in the war now, and thus is neither human or Angel for them anymore. They won't let the other affect anything else, but for them he is conveniently a gray area they can go for."

"And we can't keep an eye on him forever," Bayonetta agreed. "Fuck!" she said, punching her palm.  
"Alright, we will train them. But I'll train the child, you train the girl."

"You know Cereza, I've been curious… Why is it that you call the kid 'child' while you called the others 'little one'? I never noticed before, but with the others always calling him Third Child, it just came to mind."

Bayonetta stopped on the spot, looking pensive.

"His eyes. When we met, even if he was a brat Loki held some innocence and life in it. Little me, I was pure it. But Shinji… he just felt…  
Dead inside. Broken."

She stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking at where she was sure the Evangelion was being kept while deactivated.

"He stopped being a child. It had been snuffed by his circumstances. He had been forced to become a man, but became brittle by it.  
So I decided to give him a childhood back."

She turned around, looking at Jeanne's eyes.

"I called them little ones because they weren't grown up yet. Shinji is grown wrong, so I want him to _become_ a little one."

Jeanne nodded, and they continued walking.

"I think I'll try to apply to their school as history teacher," Jeanne announced suddenly.

"Nice going. Wish I could do something like that now…"

"You can, you know," Jeanne said with a smile, "with our training we are more than qualified for teaching physical education."

"But I don't have any official graduation."

"I'm sure we can get you them if we talk to the right people. And since we are now involved with this place, it would be—"

That had been enough for now. Unknown to them, a green eye closed under its helmet and its owner went back to sleep.

IIIII

 **Well, this is it for chapter 2.**

 **As you probably noticed, I change the way to address Bayonetta depending on which character it is focused on. Hope it doesn't become annoying.**


	3. It goes both ways

**Sorry for taking so long. As said in my other fic, I am currently working on my finals paper for my university. As such, my time for writing fanfic is a bit limited. Also, a bit of writer's block during the fight didn't help.**

 **Not counting that my other fic is my main writing priority, unfortunately for fans of this one.**

 **I am happy to say that although it may look otherwise I broke the block and went back to writing the chapter before the Smash announcement.**

IIIII

" _Good morning Shinji. How are you feeling?_ " sounded Ritsuko's voice through the speakers.

"Training has been just as brutal as ever, but thanks for asking. How is Rei today?"

" _She seems to be much better already._ "

"That's great, she seemed exhausted today."

" _She seems exhausted every day since you two began being trained._ "

"Well, that is true, but this time _I_ was able to tell."

Ritsuko muffled laughing escaped through the speakers.

" _Well, time we go back to_ our _training. Emergency exits, emergency energy resources, ammunition buildings placements, and recovery points. Do you remember everything?_ "

"Not sure…"

" _Let's review these then. Be sure to remember that the Eva is fed energy though an umbilical cord and that without that it can only work for a minute at full power and five minutes at minimum activity. Do you understand._ "

"Yes, madam."

" _Alright, let's continue from where we stopped yesterday. Activation Mode._ "

As soon as that was said, a screen with a five minutes time started counting. Shinji wasted no time on aiming with the riffle-like gun he was holding at the facsimile of the Angel he fought last time.

In Shinji's mind though, there was a voice announcing " _Ladies and gentlemen, this is Angel Attack!_ "

He just couldn't take this simulation seriously. It was too much like that game.

Ritsuko sighed as he once again shot the angels faster than the Eva's aiming system. Not that the aiming system was fast anyway, but it still irked her a bit.

But he still missed from time to time, unlike the aiming system, she thought with a smirk.

Right on cue, Shinji cursed as he missed the core of an Angel a bit further away from usual.

"He is getting better," said Misato with a smile.

"He is still refusing to use the aiming system. He claims that in the time it takes to aim he would already have been attacked, and that at least missing gives him time to dodge."

"Makes sense to me," she agreed, and her eyes widened at the huff from Ritsuko. "Are you," she resisted laughing with all her might, "are you taking this personally?"

Her only answer was another huff and Ritsuko avoiding her eyes.

IIIII

Shinji fiddled with his new cellphone on the way to class. Three weeks in Tokyo-3 and the only contacts he had were misses Cereza and Jeanne, Rodin, Luka and the Ferinos, all of them whom he had on the contacts before arriving, Misato with who he was living and Ritsuko and Rei for work-related reasons.

He was feeling a bit lonely. At least he used to have Ed and Edna to talk with, even if they were older than him.

Maybe he should try to start a friendship with the class president? She acted friendly enough, even if out of politeness. …She was also the only classmate he spoke to actually. But wouldn't she get the wrong idea?

Man, getting friends is hard…

Oh, here he was. Everyone was already on their cliques, with only him and Rei, as far as he could see, sitting by themselves. Maybe she could be a better choice for first friend? After all they were already co-workers and trained together…

Even Aida, the other one usually alone, was talking with a friend and the class president. Funny, he didn't remember seeing that guy before…

Oh well, he had some time before the teacher arrived, time to listen to some music.

IIIII

History class was _very_ different than what Toji was used to. Before, it was an old man that talked slowly and made people want to sleep as he prattled on and on about Second Impact. Now it was a _very_ attractive blonde that knew a lot more about the subject, if her jokes about a horse as a roman senator, an emperor that declared war against the sea god and made his troops attack the waves and three popes that excommunicated each other were anything to go by.

But he would not be detained by a sexy and interesting teacher! Well, this time! He already asked some girls to ask for him if he was really the pilot, and if he was, he would pay for what his sister went through!

IIIII

Shinji was surprised more by the fact he got a message on his school-issued laptop than by the fact miss Jeanne tried to strike his head halfheartedly as soon as the alarm of the message sounded.

Everyone else in class but the new guy was surprised by the fact he avoided the strike. Oh, and Rei.

"No talking in class, by voice or computer," she said, looking directly at a group of girls on the back of the class.

The girls gulped.

"Sorry, m-Professor Jeanne," Shinji said, apologetic, as he read the message. "Someone is asking if I was the pilot of the giant robot." He promptly hit the "Y" key.

"Two weeks until someone figured out?" Jeanne asked, surprised.

Shinji shrugged. Most of the class winced. Toji glowered at the pilot.

"Leave to badgering him about it _between_ classes, everyone. Now, as I was saying…"

Rei wondered if today there was apple pie for lunch. Training this morning got her famished.

IIIII

Toji Suzuhara was readi for an impact. The impact of a fist with something. An impact between his body and the transfer student's.

He was not ready for the impact not to be between his fist and the transfer student's face, but between said student's fist and his own stomach.

"Sorry, was that too much?" the transfer student asked, and even Toji cound tell he was worried. Well, it wasn't for nothing, Toji could feel like puking at any time from that blow.

"What was that for, anyway?" the boy asked as if he didn't just punch him like a truck.

"His sister was hurt in the robot battle," Kensuke, who was watching at the side, answered for him.

"Well, that was stupid. Sorry about your sister, but I had no idea there was even anyone there. Why didn't you evacuate when a giant monster approached your house?"

"He had to blame someone," came a female voice from the side. It was a teacher he hadn't met yet. One just as attractive as Professor Jeanne. "He couldn't stand the guilt, and you were a convenient scapegoat. He just didn't expect you to be able to fight back."

Toji winced; that hit a bit too close to home for his liking.

The transfer student sighed, and asked:

"What does your sister have?"

"Um, mostly burns now."

He pulled something from his pocket…

A lollipop?

"This is herbal medicine," he said. "It will help your sister get better faster. I usually carry at least one with me. If it works for her, ask me for another tomorrow."

He was skeptical, but at least he would give her a lollipop, working or not.

The moment was broken by an approaching Rei.

"I got an emergency call."

"Why wasn't I called?" the transfer student asked, clearly a bit annoyed.

"They got my number memorized. They thought it was faster asking me for it than looking for yours."

The transfer student followed her as sirens started sounding.

"Let's go Toji," Kensuke said as he helped him get up.

IIIII

" _Shinji, are you ready?_ " Misato's voice asked.

"We are."

Misato was still a bit surprised by the fact the Evangelion was not only alive, but sentient. Still, she resisted the urge to say anything.

" _Launch!_ " she ordered, and Shinji and the Eva were sent to the surface.

This time, instead of being thrown right in the middle of the action by the elevator Shinji entered the fray inside a hollow building, which he exited on a roll to get behind another one and finally take a look at his opponent.

It looked like a giant wine-colored millipede, save for the fact it had only about three pair of legs in the front, some fork-like wings beside the legs and a triangular head that seemed separated, giving it a totem-like appearance if it was more solid.

Appearance that only increased as the long body became vertical save for the head that still looked ahead, like a snake preparing for the lunge. Shinji took note that that position put the core at clear sight and with no clear defenses… so it seemed obvious that it had something else to use. Was it a trap or was it still preparing to attack?

" _Shinji, do like we talked about. Create an AT Field to negate its own and attack!_ " said Ritsuko.

IIIII

Toji was annoyed at being brought outside by Kensuke, but he had made a good point. It was a historic event that could decide the fate of humanity, so he'd better watch some of it in person.

Also, it was a chance to see how that guy really fought while in the robot. He still didn't know how to feel about the guy.

Thus he and Kensuke saw the purple giant jump to hide behind a building and then the air around it and the monster _rippled_.

IIIII

As soon as he used enough AT Field to make sure no barrier was between him and his target, Shinji jumped from his hiding place and shot a round of bullets… and stopped.

And as he expected, the bullets did not hit the Angel. They hit _something_ , as they exploded with smoke and all, but they definitely did _not_ reach their target.

Shinji saw a flash of _pink_ of all colors, and tripped back to behind the building he was using as cover.

Just in time as something cut _through_ said building, barely avoiding him.

As the building slid down, Shinji had a view of what the attacker was as he stood up.

Apparently, those wing-like protusions of the Angel held tentacles.

Pink lightsaber tentacles.

" _Why is it always tentacles?_ " sounded the familiar british-accented voice through the speakers.

IIIII

"What?" Ritsuko did _not_ squeal as she turned to look at the source of the voice.

"How did you get here?" Misato asked the women that appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh, we came with the child, you just didn't see us until now," Bayonetta said, Jeanne adjusting her glasses on top of her head.

Both were unfazed by the weapons now pointed at them.

IIIII

"I'm open to suggestions!" Shinji said as he tried to escape the whipping tentacles of his opponent.

He was doing pretty well, all things considered…

Or so he thought, until alarms started blaring and a time counter appeared in front of him.

" _The umbilical cord was cut! The Eva started using the internal batteries! Activation time remaining of—_ "

" _Child! You are on a time limit now! Stop running away and give him hell!_ "

" _What are you doing? He has no battery remaining! He should retreat!_ " sounded Misato's angry voice.

" _He has five minutes and counting. It should be more than enough._ "

"I'll retreat if I get to the last minute, Misato."

" _Agreed._ "

" _Ritsuko!_ "

" _This talk is just wasting time. Either he fights or not, and he was sent there to fight._ "

At Ritsuko's words, Shinji decided to ignore them from now on. He had something more important to worry about.

Like the energy whip going right to his leg!

He quickly jumped back to avoid it, but it wasn't enough. Thankfully, a well-placed shield took care of it.

Cool, he could use shields while on the Eva!

With this new knowledge, he lunged at the opponent, twisting between the whips, making a quick shield here and there when he couldn't. A couple of strikes to the torso couldn't be blocked, but with the adrenaline he could easily push through the pain. Before anyone noticed, he was already by his opponent's side, the Eva's hand glowing with charged power unnoticed by Shinji—

" _Duck now!_ "

Shinji didn't bother doubting the command, so used to them during training, barely avoiding an attack from another tentacle – a much thicker, plant-like tentacle, that missed the Eva by an inch and struck and destroyed a building by its side.

IIIII

"What was that?!" Ritsuko yelled in confusion.

"Justice, a Sequi of Iusticia. An Auditio, amongst the most powerful of the angels of Paradiso." Bayonetta replied, eyes glued to the screen.

Misato quickly activated her special spectacles, making the angel visible to her.

It was a big white ball, with the face of an old man with its mouth opened, a tentacle coming from said mouth with a childish face on it, and two other, plant-like barbed tentacles with monstrous mouths on the tips.

"How… Why didn't our equipment make it visible? The scanners could see the angel by themselves!" Ritsuko asked as she turned on her own spectacles.

"Your scanners were processing the data before showing you," Jeanne answered. "The cameras show the image with direct capture, so it is shown as it is – without a filter. And even if they used a mirror like some do, it would only work on demons, angels are different. The only reason your filter works for both is because it makes Purgatorio itself visible."

"And since you couldn't see them before, you got used to ignoring them in your scanners. The wonders of the human mind," Bayonetta finished.

Ritsuko pinched her nose, trying to calm down.

"And what can we do now?"

" _We_ can do nothing. It's all on his hands now." Jeanne answered. "Me and Cereza could deal with the Justice just fine, but with the time it would take to get there chances are it would already be over either way."

Bayonetta refused to say anything about this, crossing her arms in annoyance.

Witch Time would probably get them there in time, but if it affected the angel and it adapted to it like they usually do during a long one the child would be in _much_ bigger trouble.

IIIII

'I am in _much_ bigger trouble,' was all Shinji could think when he saw the angel.

Fighting an Angel was a challenge. Fighting an angel, was too for a normal person, specially an Auditio, no matter how easy misses Cereza and Jeanne made it look.

Fighting both at the same time, on a time limit and fighting not just for his life but the whole humanity's?

He jumped to the side to avoid one of the mouth tentacles, unfortunately getting away from his position inside the Angel's guard – and back on the effective range of its whips.

Four minutes and ten seconds remaining.

He avoided a whip tentacle and used a shield to deflect the second mouth one… but not enough to avoid being hit on the shoulder and thrown to the ground.

" _Shinji, retreat now!_ "

"I can't!" he answered as the Eva stood up, "The Justice won't let me!" The hit didn't get through the armor, but he could still feel his shoulder a bit numb.

Better than the hits in the torso. The adrenaline of the time had already left, and those ones were deep enough to go past the armor. They _hurt_!

" _Shinji, there is a progressive knife on the left pylon!_ " sounded Ritsuko's voice.

"Thanks!" he says, whipping the knife out as he avoided the pink tentacles once more.

Three minutes and fourty seconds.

He avoided the big tentacle, hitting it with the knife, not expecting it to cut but at least to push it aside, so thick were the hides of Auditios supposed to be. To his surprise, the knife did penetrate the tentacle, making blood sprout from it into his face.

IIIII

"Well, that's interesting," Jeanne commented after seeing the knife penetrate the Justice's hide. "Don't you think, Cere…za?"

Bayonetta was not there. No one even noticed her leaving.

"Shit!" Misato cursed, drawing Jeanne's attention back to the screen.

IIIII

It was in fact such a surprise he almost left himself open to take a hit from behind from the Angel. Stumbling to avoid them, he evaded two more strikes, but the damage was done, not being able to avoid the Justice's mouths clamping on his shoulders and lifting him from the ground.

The two tentacles started trying to rip his arms off, while the thicker, faced one tightened around his neck. The Angel's tentacles did not stay idle either, flaying the Eva's back.

In despair, Shinji trashed around, trying to hit the tentacle on his arm to cut it like he did the one on his neck, but it seemed they were more resistant than it.

Three minutes and ten seconds.

His back was on fire, his vision was going dark, but Shinji forced himself to move. He could not stop. To stop was to die.

But he could barely use his arms, and his legs were far from anything he could use for leverage.

Time to go crazy and make a desperate action.

He lifted his legs, holding his knees as close to his chest as possible, created a shield in front of him where no attack was going. And held the shield.

Then he kicked the shield with both legs as hard as he could.

He was flipped around, escaping the tentacle mouths' grip. Before anyone could make sense of what happened, he was back on the ground, shoulders ruined but free. With the adrenaline, he stabbed the tentacle still around his neck, making it recede back in the Justice's mouth – unfortunately, taking the knife with him.

No time to worry about that. It seemed making shields that stayed took a lot of battery. One minute and forty-eight seconds.

He was unnarmed, his shoulders were ruined so his arms were unusable.

That left him with his legs.

Legs are more powerful than arms due to holding the weight of the whole body, but need more precision and balance. He wasn't as good at legwork as misses Cereza and Jeanne, and Rei was almost reaching him at that point. He put it in his mind to change this as soon as he was able to.

Because he _was_ going to be able to.

He turned around and charged the Angel, ignoring the whipping he was getting. His mind would not let his body give in to the pain. He jumped, his knee hitting the Angel's Core.

It sent the angel backwards in the air, the core cracked.

Before it got too far away, Shinji jumped, the Eva spinning in the air as its leg snapped in the Core's direction. He concentrated all his energy in the kick, willing it to break through the core.

The orange energy covering the leg was barely noticeable, but it did its job, reinforcing the kick and making the leg cut through the core.

Twenty-three seconds.

No time to fight the Justice. Shinji kicked the ground, aiming to the closest elevator to the Geofront.

He was tired. He was very hurt. He just spent a lot of energy in that suicidal kick.

Most people would give him a break due to this. But neither would misses Cereza and Jeanne when he got back. Because the tentacle that just threw him backwards like a ragdoll was just proof that the enemy would not either.

Because, you know, it just didn't.

Spinning in the air, he had just enough time to see where the Eva would fall…

Right on top of two people.

Before he could hit them, he used the remaining energy to build a shield on the way. He could feel his cheek breaking, but that was enough to avoid hitting them. For as much good as it did…

Thankfully, his last vision before the energy ran out was a familiar black panther jumping on top of his head.

IIIII

Toji looked at the robot on his side, eyes wide. He was half glad he listened to Kensuke and came to see the robot battle, despite his feelings about the pilot, but…

First the dude seemed to be doing well, but then he seemed to struggle with nothing. He thought it was control problems, until the robot _floated_! That was when he and Kensuke figured out at least half the opponents were **freaking invisible**!

Then, after the robot was able to defeat the visible one, it was knocked on top of them! If it wasn't for the orange barrier he was sure the robot made, since it was using others like it during the battle, they would have been squashed.

And to finish things off, a panther of all things jumped on top of the robot and… disappeared.

Explosions and things breaking out of nowhere.

And suddenly, that new teacher walked out from the top of the robot carrying a giant metal tube like if it was nothing and settled it on the ground.

"Wha-what's going on?" asked Kensuke, camera forgotten.

"What does it look like?" the teacher answered, clearly in a bad mood. "I'm retrieving the pilot!"

She opened the capsule, and pulled out the new guy, clearly uncounscious and with a darkening bruise on his face right where the robot had hit its own shield. For some reason, Toji doubted it was a coincidence…

IIIII

Ritsuko and Misato looked at the screen, eyes wide. And they weren't the only ones. Even Gendo was surprised, although he hid it better than most.

Shinji using the AT-Field to create solids he could interact it was a surprise, but not too much of one. After all, the Angels could, as shown by the previous one, and the main point of the Evas was that they had AT-Fields like them.

Using the AT-Field to increase the strength of a kick was less expected, but still understandable… somehow.

A black panther jumping on top of the other angel at racing car speed and transforming into a woman to kick it in the face though, no one expected.

Bayonetta wasted no time, ripping the mouth-tentacle off and exposing the Justice's heart. Then she cut it in two with her magic-reinforced hand, just like Shinji did with AT-Field in the kick earlier. As with the Angel, the angel died almost instantly, the energy that formed it solidifying into halos that Bayonetta absorbed.

As the black-clad woman moved to the fallen robot, Ritsuko turned to Jeanne, annoyance clear in her voice.

"How long were you going to keep secret that you are able to fight them like that?"

"And why would we do that?" Jeanne answered back annoyed herself, "It's not like it would matter for your fight."

"Wouldn't matter? _Wouldn't matter?_ " Misato said angrily. "If you two can fight them yourselves, then we don't need to use _children_ to do it!"

"This is humanity's struggle. It does not involve either Paradiso or Inferno," Jeanne replied matter of factly. "As such, we cannot interfere unless we want _to_ involve them."

"But Shinji—"

"Is a loophole. He is right now a member of both sides, and as such of neither. So all _four_ sides are free to attack him if they wish to. Trust me, if she could Cereza would not let Shinji get near either kind of angel, but we cannot touch your kind."

"But she just…"

"That was an angel from Paradiso, not the ones you are fighting. I… actually am kinda annoyed that she saw _this_ loophole and I didn't."

At that point they saw Bayonetta taking Shinji from the Eva… and go pale.

For Nerv she disappeared, but Jeanne could feel the effects of Witch Time. Which was surprising, since it was pretty taxing. It is the reason they usually only use it for a few seconds during battle.

" _Bayonetta speaking,_ " came the voice during the intercom. " _Please bring whoever takes care of the health of the pilots to the medical room number—"_

Before she even finished speaking Ritsuko and Misato were already moving. Gendo thought better though, anything important Ritsuko would tell him later.

Ritsuko was not calm, as she made clear when she shoved the door open. Inside, her first thought was annoyance at seeing pieces of ripped plugsuit thrown around… until she noticed they were covered with blood on the inside.

In the bed, an unconscious Shinji was naked but for bandages covering most of his body above his waist. The bandages were red in many places, especially on his shoulders. Bayonetta was massaging his throat, making him drink a green liquid.

"What is going on?"

"Couldn't find an IV drip, went with the basics," the black-clad woman answered. "This is the same thing we gave the other earlier, just in liquid form."

Ritsuko grumbled a bit, no matter how unscientific that was it had proved to work.

"That's not what I'm talking about! How was he damaged like this?"

"Weren't you watching the battle?" Bayonetta replied in a condescending tone. "I was the one that rushed to help him, so you know more than me."

"None of the attacks penetrated the Eva enough to reach the pilot. All he should have got is some mental feedback from the Eva's pain, but not be hurt himself," Ritsuko said in an accusing tone.

"Oh, really?" Bayonetta said. "And why would he get mental feedback, my dear?"

"Because they are controlled mentally, and the communication goes both ways. It's why he can see through the Eva's eyes, and why synchronization between them is so important."

"And pray tell, what is his synchronization currently?"

"It is always at a hundred percent."

"And why is that?"

Ritsuko grit her teeth, both infuriated by the woman and by her next words: "I don't know."

Bayonetta sighed, as if speaking to a particularly slow child. "Because, my dear, they are not connected through your equipment anymore. As far as they are concerned, when they wish so they are one and the same. _That_ is the nature of their pact. It is why the Eva is so responsive, and is why Shinji can use this… ET-Field by himself.

"AT-Field," Ritsuko corrected. Then her eyes opened wide.

"Do you mean… But this is scientifically impossible!"

"As is most of the new things you were presented to ever since the child arrived in your town. We are dealing with angels and demons here."

"What are you talking about?" Misato interrupted, annoyed and worried.

"Misato," Ritsuko said softly, "if, as far as they are concerned, they are one and the same… damage to the Eva—"

"Is damage to the child," Bayonetta finished.

IIIII

 **And the chapter is over. Sorry it is short, but I thought it was the ideal place to stop. Plus, you know, the writer's block during the battle.**

 **For those curious, I am planning to base Shinji's fighting style in DMC3's Dante using Beowulf. I think it is a good combination with Rei learning Bayonetta and Jeanne's fighting style. Asuka… I'm not sure about her yet.**

 **Besides the fighting style… I don't think I will give him anything else than what was already presented up to this point. He can do quick shields, longer-lasting but more energy-consuming shields able to withstand him jumping (or falling) on them, and can increase the strength of his attacks. Plus, as human weapons, he got four guns (yes, he uses mainly Hikari and Yami for now, but he has a set of four). The Eva I think is already good enough to go.**


End file.
